How to look glamorous and gorgeous by wearing traditional in this Dusshera festival

The Dusshera festival is one of the most auspicious occasions in the Hindu calendar. Special preparations are made from a very early stage to make sure that the festive occasion is conducted as flawlessly as possible. People not only make special arrangements for this time of the year to ensure that they can take part in the Dussherafestival with all of their heart but they also buy the best of clothes in order to look great for the occasion. The tradition of wearing beautiful clothes for this festive occasion is an old one as men and women of all age groups get the best of clothing items to deck themselves up for this special occasion.

Since both men and women leave no stone unturned to look great on this special day, clothing manufacturers come up with new line of clothes that are particularly made for the special occasion of the Dusshera festival. Both traditional wear and western wear are in vogue among men and women of today when they are looking to dress up for this special occasion. However, in the recent times, there has been an immense surge of interest for traditional clothing as they best help to reflect the spirit of Dusshera. Both men and women are now taking an active interest in choosing traditional clothes that are gorgeous and fashionable in their own right and make the wearer stand out in a crowd.

Ethnic Design Tussar Silk Sarees for Dusshera festival

In keeping with the spirit of the Dusshera festival, traditional Indian clothing manufacturers come up with stylish outfits for both men and women that truly make them look great. Women can choose from a wide range of Anarkali suits, silk churidar suits, crepe suits, silk sarees, cotton sarees and designer salwar kameez that they can wear on the special occasion of Dusshera. Similarly the men can wear shirts, tunics, jackets, traditional suits and dhotis that perfectly blend with the festive spirit of Dusshera. With traditional clothing, no man or woman can ever go wrong as he or she can perfectly blend with all types of social circles. Wearing traditional clothing on this special day also means that the men and women won’t need to change their outfits from time to time in order to wear appropriate clothes for visiting a particular place or meeting certain people.

Since there is now such a high demand for traditional Indian clothes among both men and women to wear on the special occasion of Dusshera, numerous manufacturers of ethnic clothing have come forward with their own line of clothes. This has naturally offered the men and women of today with more number of stylish options when they are looking for the best traditional Indian clothing. The traditional merchants of clothing that have been in business for many decades also present their unique collection of clothing on the special occasion of Dusshera. The proliferation of multiple brands and clothing manufacturers has only made it more possible for the buyer to get top quality products at the drop of a hat.

Pure Cotton Salwar Kameez materials for Dusshera

As the demand for traditional clothes has increased over the years for the festival of Dusshera, plenty of online stores have come forward to cater to the growing demand for these clothes. Now men and women can easily get fashionable traditional clothing items from the comfort of their own homes. The best part of buying traditional clothes from these online stores is that they have an extensive stock of fine clothes designed and developed from various manufacturers. Therefore buyers can take their pick from a wide range of clothes that ideally matches their design as well as budget preferences. 

The Top Ten Temples you should visit when you’re in South India

The southern part of India is known across the world for its majestic temples- noted for their architectural splendor and grandeur. What more? You can actually go on to write pages just about the diversity of craftsmanship demonstrated by these prestigious monuments. Vijaynagara, Dravidian, Chalukyas and so on… the gamut of architectural designs is as diverse as it can get.

Today, we will offer you a rundown of the top 10 famous South Indian Temples that every Indian should visit at least once in his or her life.

Top 10 temples in South India that every Indian should visit once

• Meenakshi Temple in Madurai: This one can top the list of any devotee out there – not only because of its awe-inspiring architecture but also because of the sheer reason that it had actually made it to the list of nominees for the New Seven Wonders of the World. Do watch out for the shrine of Meenakshi holding a parrot and the right raised leg of Nataraja besides its other ornate shrines and halls.
• Brihadeeswarar Temple: This one is located right at the center of Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. Dedicated to lord Brihadeeswarar Temple (Lord Shiva’s incarnation), this archeological wonder was built 1000 years ago by the Cholas. The tower of temple remains one of the tallest in the world. Intricate Chola Nayaka paintings are its other highlights.
• Virupaksha Temple: Nestled on the banks of Tungabhadra, this splendorous creation is attributed to the Vijayanagara Empire. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and established in the seventh century. Gopurams, detailed carvings and marvelous architecture are its assets.
• Chamundeshwari Temple: Set foot on Mysore, Karnataka and you will definitely hear a lot about this temple from the folks around. Goddess Chamundeswari is a form of Goddess Shakti. The doors of the shrine are made of gold and silver. Perched atop the beauteous Chamundi Hills (3000 ft high), you can climb up a thousand steps to reach it.

  

  Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai

• Airatesvara Temple: It is situated four kilometers on the west of Kumbakonam (40 kms from Thanjavur). It’s a 12^th century temple, especially noted for its art and stone carvings. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site.
• Shri Shri Madana Mohana(ISCKON) Temple: It was  His Divine Grace Abhay Caranarvinda Bhaktivedanta Swami who had established ISCKON or the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Situated in Nampadi, Hyderabad, this particular temple remains crowded with devotees all the year round. Pilgrims can also secure valuable insights regarding bhakti yoga and the sustenance of balanced mental and physical health.
• Arunachaleswar Temple: This temple rests just at the base of holy Mount Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai. The entire temple complex consists of three courtyards and nine towers. Lord Shiva is worshipped (as is the case with many temples in South India).
• Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple: This temple is located at the capital of Kerala – Thiruvananthapuram. Lord Vishnu is worshipped with noted reverence here. You can see the idol of Lord Padmanabhaswamy in the posture of eternal sleep right on Adisesha, the snake with a thousand heads.  The importance of this temple itself can be comprehended from the fact that this is the temple which gave the city (Thiruvananthapuram) its name – which literally translates to the Holy Abode of Anantha Padmanabha.
• Ranganathaswamy Temple: Situated in Trichi (Tiruchirapalli), Ranganathaswamy Temple is supposed to be the largest temple in India – spanning across a whopping 156 acres and actually has 21 towers or gopurams. Its 73m high main tower is the second tallest tower in Asia.
• Thalumalayan Temple: Built in the 17^th century, this particular temple is known for its musical pillars. The legends of Anasuya and Ahalya can be found here. Besides its musical pillars, do watch out for its hanging pillar and the solo Linga representing Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh as well. 

Setting up an “Indian” home with Patachitra paintings, Palm leaf engravings and more

Your home is your personal paradise on earth. Adorning it is an uphill task. No, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get those décor items at place- but perhaps because there are so many ideas splashed on the Internet and the magazines, you are often overwhelmed simply by the choices you have at your disposal.

Is it that difficult to decorate the home exactly the way you want?

The trick here is to zero in on a single idea that you want your house to reflect. Since it’s your house, there’s always going to be a bit of “you” in every room. You can keep this point in view to pick up the décor materials that you think will comply with your personality and convenience the best. Offbeat décor materials range from anything like frame-less mirrors to bedroom fairy lights and blended wall fixtures. Today, we are offering a few home décor tips for those who are looking at decking up their home with purely Indian home décor arts and crafts. Let us read on.

How to Decorate your home with purely Indian home decor arts and crafts? 

To start off with, let us tell you that nothing on earth can render that much coveted earthy feel to your home as well as Indian Home Décor can do. India is a country known for its rich heritage and exotic art. The creative acumen of Indian artists and craftsmen has drawn praise from the entire world. It stands unparalleled to this day. In fact, Indian handicrafts are famous across the globe since the times of Mohenjo-Daro.  Here are a few tips with the help of which you can set up an “Indian” home of your dreams.

Trendy Home Decor Items Online

It’s all about Patachitra, Palmleaf and Dhokra

One of the items immediately associable with Indian décor is patachitra painting. Patachitra painting is very simply described as scroll painting done on cloths. Hailed as the traditional painting of Odhisa, India, Patachitra paintings have adorned many a homes across the country and are eternally associated with class and refined tastes. The colors used in this form of painting are completely natural made by the Oriya painters or Chitrakaras. This style of painting remains the oldest types of painting in the state.

As far as home décor is concerned Patachitra paintings can well be the “life” of your living room. A large painting taking up that central wall of your room, accentuated by the right kind of lighting can just turn out to be the cynosure of all eyes.

Palm leaf engravings or paintings, once again, make for one of most ancient crafts of the world. Also known as Talpatachitras, palm leaf engraving is an art which has reached new heights today as far as homedécor is concerned.

Anybody looking to render a completely Indian look to his or her abode first turns to palm leaf paintings. The ethnic art comprising inscriptions (made on palm leaves) adds a whole lot of flexibility to your choices. Though the palm leaves are generally cut into standard sizes, you can always aim for a custom look by choosing shapes that are a little quirky and unique in their own ways.

Dhokra is a metallurgy based art which has been a traditional favorite of homemakers as well. At the heart of Dhokra craft is brass-ware. Have you seen those beautiful brass showpieces – tribal couples, elephants, candle stands and bells? They generally make for a regular feature at the trade fairs – no matter in which part of India you are.

Make sure you are including these décor items in your home while setting up your dream “Indian” home.  

Welcome Lord Ganesha to your home! - Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is also known as Ganesa Chaturthi and Vinayaka Chaturthi, considering Lord Ganesh is also known as Vinayaka. The festival also goes by the name of Vinayaka Cavithi. Celebrated mainly by Hindus, this festival extols Lord Ganesha, the deity with the head of an elephant. Incidentally, Lord Ganesha is supposed to be the deity of common people, making him perhaps the only one of his kind in Indian religious folklore. It is done in order to ensure that person doing the puja is able to complete every new activity without any hindrance whatsoever. This is also one reason why Lord Ganesha is also known as vignaharta or remover of troubles and obstacles. 

     

Celebrations

The word chaturthi in both Hindi and Bengali means the fourth day. As per Hindu calendar this festival is celebrated during the month of Bhaadrapada and is organized on the first fortnight’s fourth day. In Hindi this first fortnight is referred to as Shukla Chaturthi. As per Gregorian calendar it occurs either during August or September. The festival normally goes on for 10 days and ends on the penultimate day of the said fortnight. In Hindi this day is known as Anant Chaturdashi.

The festival is celebrated by people at home, at workplaces, and in public places as well. As part of celebrations, temporary shrines called pandals are built and clay images of the deity are worshipped during the entire duration. During this festival, you will come across plenty of people praying to the deity and taking part in festivities. This practice is known as group worship. When the festivals end these idols are immersed in huge waterbodies such as lakes, rivers, seas, etc. Over time, these clay idols melt away in the water – this is the possible logic behind their immersion.

Preparations for the festival normally start around a month earlier than the actual festival is supposed to happen. Local residents normally provide the funding to build the pandal and make other expenses related to the festival. The idols are normally bought from workshops and fairs. In Maharashtra the ritual of padya pooja starts the process of making the idols. The words padya pooja mean worshipping the feet in English and they imply the worshiping of the deity’s feet.

Vinayaka Chaturthi Celebration in Mumbai

The idols are brought to the pandals 15-20 days prior to the start of the actual festival. An easily-identifiable part of this festival is plenty of colourful decoration all around. Flowers and various other decorative materials are used for this purpose. The idols of this festival can be as small as three to four inches – to be used primarily in homes – to more than 70 feet – to be used in pandals. Priests decide the dates on the basis of chaturthi tithi. During the pujas hymns from Rigveda, Ganapati Atharvashirsa, Upanishads, and the Ganesha stotra from Narada Purana are used.

Where is it celebrated in India?

The festival is celebrated all around the country. However, the celebrations of Maharashtra, and Telangana to a certain extent, are well-known. Music is an integral part of Ganesh Chaturthi festivities in Maharashtra and traditional instruments such as tasha and dhol are key parts of the same. Apart from these, the festival is celebrated in the following areas:

• Gujarat
• Karnataka
• Tamil Nadu
• Andhra Pradesh
• Kerala
• Goa
• Odisha
• Madhya Pradesh
• Chhattisgarh
• Parts of western India
• Parts of southern India  

Outside India, the festival is celebrated in the Terai region of Nepal, which is where Indian-origin Nepalese live. The festival is also observed in countries such as United States of America, Canada, and Mauritius where people of Indian Hindu diaspora live.